Yarn treating process and composition therefor



Patented Apr. 14, 1942 YARN TREATING PROCESS AND COMPOSI- TION THEREFOR I James G. Mclfally and Joseph B. Dickey, Rochester, N. Y., assignors to Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey No Drawing.

3 Claims.

breakage of the individual filaments or fibers when they are subjected to various mechanical strains andv to lubricate the yarn in order to facilitate handling in such operations-as spinning, twisting, winding and reeling. In addition,

Application November 26, 1937, Serial No. 176,681

it is necessary to treat yarn to adapt it for use as warp .or filling or for the manufacture of various types of knitted fabrics. In knitting, it is particularly important that the yarn be soft and pliable'in order that it-may conform readily to the contour of the needles and thusproduce a closely knit fabric flee from such defects as 1 stitch distortion, pin holes, laddering," and the like. 1

Heretofore it has been proposed to employ softeningagents such as polyhydric alcohols and similar. agents as ingredients of yarn conditioning or lubricating formulae, generally in connection with mineral, animal or vegetable oils. It has been found, however, that most of the known softening agents and the various formulae containing them have certaindrawbacks, one of the .most serious of which is high vapor pressure, and .in{ some cases too drastic a solvent action on the.

Many of such agents possess slight or insuflicient solvent power for the lubricants with ,which they are used and vit is accordingly necessary to employ blending agents or. emulsifying in order to obtain operable yarn treating o rganic derivatives of cellulose and capable of lubricating, softening and rendering such more amenable to knitting and other tex- "tileoperations. A-further and specific object is to provide a class of conditioning agents which augment or assist the lubricating action of various lubricants when applied to such yarns. :A

still further object is to provide yarn softening and lubricating formulae which can bereadily removed from the yarns by the usual scourbaths. A stillfurther object is to provide an improved method for the conditioning of yarns, particularly those composed of or containing organic derivatives of cellulose such as cellulose acetate, whereby the yarn is rendered soft and pliable and capable of employment in a. variety of textile operations where complicated designs or stitches are employed. Other objects will appear hereinafter.

These objects are accomplished by the following invention which, in its broader aspects, comprises the discovery that aliphatic ketones having at least one alkyl residue containing at least 4 carbon atoms may be used asyarn conditioning agents and particularly as softening and antistatic agents with or without the addition of animal, mineral or vegetable oil in the treatment of yarns composed of or containing organic derivatives of cellulose. We have found that these compounds have a slight solvent and/or softening action on cellulose organic'derivative yarns which renders such yarns soft and pliable without at the same time having too drastic a solvent action thereon. Typical examples of such aliphatic ketones are dioleyl, methyl oleyl, butyl oleyl,.furyl oleyl, phenyl oleyl, di-palmityl, stearyl ethyl, furyl valeryl, 'tetrahydrofuryl lauryl, para-lauryl phenyl stearyl, divaleryl and dinonyl.

In accordance with the invention these compounds may be applied directly to the yarn during or after spinning, or may be added to the spinning solution itself. We have found that these compounds have exceptional solvent pow- "ers which enable them to dissolve mineral oils and blown and unblown, drying and semi-drying,

vegetable and animal oils and accordingly,land they may be, and preferably are, employed as ingredients of yarn conditioning or lubricating-- formulae in conjunction with agents which function wholly or partially as lubricants. l In the following examples and description, we

' have set forth several of the preferred embodimerely for purposes of limitation thereof.

ments of our invention, but they are included illustration and not as a .55 forth:

Example I A 20% solution of cellulose acetate in acetone in which is incorporated 1-25% of dioleyl ketone, by weight of the cellulose acetate, is extruded through fine orifices into an evaporative atmosphere. The filaments thus produced are wound or twisted and wound. Yarns produced from filaments thus prepared are pliable and suitable for knitting. In place of the above ketone we may use methyl oleyl ketone, furyl oleyl ketone, phenyl oleyl ketone, etc. 1

Example II 14% of di-palmityl ketone is applied to yarn composed of cellulose acetate by roll application, the yarnwound on bobbins. The ketone, which is a solid at room temperature, may'be applied in a molten condition or in solution in a solvent such as ether or benzene. The yarn thus treated As will be apparent from the above examplesis soft and pliable and well-adapted for textil' operations such as weaving.

' Example IIl' A conditioning liquid is made up by mixing the following ingredients in the indicated propor-f tions:

r Parts Olive oil 90 Stearyl ethyl ketone 10 This composition is applied to a cellulose acetate yarn intended for knitting in anfamount reprein accordance with our invention and-which render such yarn soft and pliable and well-adapted for various textile operations, particularly knitting, are the following:

Example IV Light mineral oil 1o Example IX Furyl oleyl ketrm Teaseed oil Oleic a Triethannlnmine Water Diethylene glycol 'ww'ss and description, the conditioning agents of our invention may be applied by a wide variety of methods. For example, we may'employ the agent as an ingredient of the spinning dope from which the filaments are formed, the amount of the agent so employed depending upon a number of factors,

such as the'p'articular cellulose derivative used in making the'yarn, the solvent or solvent combination used in making up the spinning solution; and I a the degree of softness or pliability desired in the yarn, etc. l I I If the conditioning agent is to be applied to the yarn after spinning, this may be done by bringing the yarn in contact with a wick, roll, or felt wet therewith or the liquid may be applied by immersion, spray, or otherwise, The particular point at which the liquid is applied may vary. It may, for example, be applied to the yarn inside or outside the spinningcabinet, between the guide and godet roll, between the. godet or other roll or guide and the point of winding and/or twisting. In some cases, the liquid may even be appliedto the yarn after winding onto cones, spools, bobbins, or the like or by the so-called bobbin to bobbin"; method. In the 'case of'staple fiber manufacture, the liquid may be applied to the yarn prior to, or after cutting into staple lengths.

The amountof the agent so employed will vary widely depending upon theresults desired, the

given case where a cellulose organic acid ester yarn such asa'. yarn composed of cellulose acetate,

is intended for knitting, about 4 to 25% or more by weight, based-on the weight of the dry yarn, may be satisfactory, while if the yarn is intended for weaving, the amount may vary between about Parts 1 and 5%. Blown ll Ofl 60 Although in the above examples we have re- Fll ll v l ryl k ne 4 ferred primarily to yarn treating compositions containing only the conditioning agent, 'emulsifye 7 Example V ing agents,- blending agents and the like may be Parts addedwithin the scope of our invention. Likegf g gl n wise, various dyes or other coloring matter may 0 be included in case it is desired to permanently Tetmmdmfuryl. 1.841171 ketoile or fugitively tint or dye the material undergoing treatment.

Example W a 1 Although we have foundit c'onvenientto illusmm mm by i ware s. con spec cpercen geso v 3 if zz i z gg -r gredients. these percentages may vary widely deury p enyl s an e ne pending upon the particular purpose forzwhieh Example WI the composition is intended. I For ex. mple. 11'- 1; v p Parts desired to control'the solvent or softening ac-- Heat s oo on so I tron of the conditioning agent, the amount of the Tetrahydmmrmryl formal 40 #8 may be us d as. for example. by reduc- Divaleryl ketnnp a 9 ins the amount of the agent and m... 1, Tetrahydmmrmrylamine olate 1 increasing the amount of oil or other ingredient.

'7 While we have described our invention with Example VH1} particular reference to the treatment of yarns v put composed of organic derivatives of cellulose such Blown neats-foot oil 30. as cellulose acetate, the conditioning agents and mnonyl k t e 60 formulae described herein are applicable to the conditioning oi many other types of cellulose despeciflc nature of the material to which the agent rivative yarns such as those composed of or containing cellulose propionate, cellulose butyrate, cellulose acetate propionate, cellulose acetate butyrate, ethyl cellulose, methyl cellulose, benzyl cellulose and others, as well as to the conditioning of silk, wool, cotton, viscose and other natural or artificial materials.

I are employed, without too drastic an action on the yarn material.

The term yarn as used herein and in the claims is to be understood as including a single filament, a plurality of filaments associated into the form of a thread, either of high or low twist, single or multiple threads associated or twisted together, composite threads composed of a mixture of natural and artificial filaments or a composite thread'fonrned by twisting together individual strands of natural or artificial materials, as well as cut staple fibers produced from natural and/or artificial filaments or threads and spun yarn produced from such staple fibers.

As indicated above, the yarn conditioning agents of our invention are exceptionally good solvents for a wide variety of mineral, blown and unblown, drying and semi-drying, animal and vegetable oils such as cottonseed, olive, castor,

neats-foot, sperm and other oils. This enables them to be used with any of such oils in making up a variety of yarn treating formulae of varying compositions. l

of or containing cellulose acetate to render it Another outstanding characteristic of these compounds is their exceptional solvent power for a wide variety of mineral, animal and vegetable oils and their ability to act as lubricating assistants in conjunction with these .oils when applied to such yarns. In addition,

due to their solubility in water, they may be readily removed from yarns and fabrics by means of the usual scour baths. By employing the yarn "conditioning agents and method of our invention as herein described, one is enabled to obtain hghly satisfactory results in the manufactured yarns and woven fabrics and especially the production from these yarns of closely knit fabrics free from defects such as pin holes, stitch distortion, laddering and the like.

What we claim and desire to secure by Patent of the United States is: v

1. The process of conditioning yarn composed more amenable to textile operations including knitting, weaving, spinning and the like, which comprises applying thereto a lubricating and softening composition containing butyl oleylketone.

2. A conditioning agent for rendering textile I yarns composed of or containing cellulose acetate more amenable to textile operations including knitting, weaving, spinning and the like containing butyl oleyl ketone. i

3. Textile yarns composed of or containing cellulose acetate amenable to textile operations including knitting, weaving, spinning and the like, impregnated with a lubricant comprising butyl oleyl ketone. v

JAMES G. McNALLY. JOSEPH B. DICKEY.

Letters 

